lisa: acquisition. vic: restoration.

Vic and I had been eyeing the beat up old furniture carts at the antique market for quite some time. Hmmm…coffee table? But since he has already built us lovely tables, we let them go.

Then I got on my <cough, cough> primatives-around-the-house kick and decided I MUST have one. THEN, someone pointed out that the carts were now in the Restoration Hardware catalog. GAH! That meant that these inexpensive, readily-available gems would be a) not inexpensive and b) not readily available.

I headed off to the antique market and the perfect specimen did await me. Ava and I had to hunt for awhile, but it was relatively inexpensive. I hauled it home, and Vic restored it. And it makes me so magnificently happy.

So what did he do? First he removed all of the hardware. Then he sanded the wood lightly – the RH ones are sanded clean, but I love the leftover history that lives on the table – the paint, the cracks, the yummy scratches. He just made it smooth and splinter-free. Then he set all of the nails down into the wood. He treated it with two coats of Tung Oil (no poly, I wanted it matte, not shiny or coated). He sandblasted the cast hardware then coated it with Cast Iron blacking. Then a polish, reassemble, and he fixed the legs so the table doesn’t rock.

He’s ok, huh?